RBC | The Colorado Senate Ag committee is expected to perform confirmation hearings in the next week or two of three new Parks and Wildlife Commissioners Governor Polis appointed in July of 2023. The Northwest Colorado Outfitters’ Association is asking residents to contact members of the ag committee opposing two of the three appointees because they “do not meet the job description” as members who can demonstrate that they regularly engage in outdoor recreation and utilize parks resources.
According to information shared by the Outfitters’ Association, Jack Murphy and Jessica Beaulieu have never held a parks pass in the past, do not have a parks and rec background, and are both anti-hunting.
An article about the appointees in the Montrose Press last July stated: “Beaulieu was appointed to serve as a representative of outdoor recreation and parks utilization. She is an active attorney and the manager of the University of Denver’s Animal Law Program.
She is also a board member of the Colorado Environmental Film Festival, and an executive council member of the Colorado Bar Association Environmental Law Section. She studied Wildlife Ecology and Conservation at the University of Florida and spent time in Australia studying the impact of species such as dingoes and cane toads on ecosystems.
Murphy was appointed to serve as a representative of outdoor recreation and parks utilization. He is a co-founder and president of Urban Wildlife Rescue, which provides humane solutions to wildlife conflicts, wildlife education and wildlife rehabilitation.
He has also served on the Colorado Nongame Conservation and Wildlife Restoration board and the board of Colorado Animal Protectors. He has provided educational programs to the Wildlife Masters programs for the CSU Extension Service and was a co-founder and board member of the Colorado Council for Wildlife Rehabilitation.”
The third appointee, Gary Skiba, is known as the author of the effort to bring wolves to Colorado and is a member of Defenders of Wildlife, according to a July 2023 article in Colorado Politics. Skiba’s appointment received criticism as soon as it was announced.
The CPW board is made up of 11 members by statute: three members are to be sports persons who have obtained a hunting or fishing license for at least three years, one of those three is is to be a registered outfitter; three more members are to be actively involved in production agriculture; the next three are to be members who “regularly engage in outdoor recreation and utilize parks resources” one of whom is to represent a nonprofit organization in conservation and enhancement of Colorado’s wildlife and habitat.
Revenue from parks and recreation was $141M in fiscal year 2022/23, compared to wildlife revenue of $209M in the same time period. “By not actually having a parks background and an anti-hunting background it takes away from the wildlife side of revenue,” according to the Association.
The Northwest Colorado Outfitters’ Association is asking residents to write to the legislators on the committee. Their email addresses are as follows: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected].